Sunday, May 22, 2011

Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman kicked start the Kaamatan in Tamparuli. He is also expected to officiate its conclusion on 31st May 2011.

I would probably be sharing mostly pictures of the opening and closing (or peak) ceremony of the month-long Harvest Festival, and not the faces of the winners of the Unduk Ngadaus as many would perhaps expect. In Sabah, one can feel the celebratory mood from 1st May to 31st May every year partly due to the various cultural and non-cultural events by both government and NGOs, and partly to the shopping carnivals organised by the big malls in the city. The general public play their part too by writing, blogging, taking part, and donating for the cause during the month.

Rain-soaked opening ceremony did not deter visitors from crowding the small town.

In between the dates, the more than 40 districts and sub-districts would hold their own festival which would normally be marked with the crowning of the Unduk Ngadau and Sugandoi champions. In the normal case the Unduk Ngadau (Harvest Festival Queen) would represent their respective district at the state level Kaamatan on 30th-31st May, traditionally held at KDCA Hongkod Koisaan in Penampang.

Citing an example of the Tuaran district level celebration, people of different cultures convene in the true spirit of solidarity, putting aside their differences in religious beliefs and political ideologies and sit back to enjoy the moment. While I can testify for the truthfulness of the high level of religious tolerance in Sabah, I can't assure myself about the latter.

But then again that is the sad truth of what is happening in Malaysia in general; leaders of different political ideology seldom sit together to work for the people. "My role is nothing else but to discredit my opposing team, from this election to the next".

Alright, let's forget about politics and let us see some pictures of people celebrating:

Red carpet for the VIPs

Ladies handing out the Linopot, a traditional Dusun staple. It's mainly rice with thick blend of yam. Other areas in the state use different blends for variety and for uniqueness.

Beating the gong and kulintangan (an array of smaller gongs) by the Lotud community.

Headhunters of Borneo?The blowpipe, locally called Sumpit is popular among the native Murut and Lundayeh, and is used as a hunting tool for live food such as birds, mouse deers, squirrels, and wild boars.

In Bajau language betitik means beating of traditional musical instruments such as kulintangan, tawak, bandil and gendang. The betitik regained its popularity following more aggressive promotion exercise by the state's cultural board since a couple of years back.

The gendang is an important component of the gong beating orchestra of the ethnic Kadazandusun in Papar.

Creative locals produced saxophone of their own. This one is made of bamboo and if you are familiar with the modern saxophone you will be amazed by the built quality and the pitch tuning precision of this instrument.

Gentlemen from ethnic Kadazandusun in Papar, Sabah.

Handwoven beads baskets trimmed down in size suitable for decoration. The motifs here are popular among the Murut and Lundayeh communities in Sabah.

Consider a 3.5% p.a. flat interest rate (as in motor vehicle hire purchase) and we are talking about repayment period of 15 years. Fifteen years may sound too long but we are not exactly forking out a single cent from our pocket. Instead, there is an income stream. The guaranteed feed-in period by the utility company is 21 years.

"Dear Sir, because you deserve it we've committed ourself to credit into your bank account an amount of RM240 per month for the first fifteen years, and RM696 per month for the next six years. Thereafter, we shall leave it entirely to you to do anything you see fit to the equipment and fittings related to the generation of electricity installed at your home." Yours truly, SESB.

How does that sound? Aha, that's just rang a bell in you hasn't it - something that's too good to be true must have a catch somewhere. That's for our next discussion.

For me, I'm going nuts in excitement but the residence I'm currently living in is not exactly mine and there is nothing much to pursue. Will definitely chase this goose once mine is ready in the near future.

Install a 6kW BIPV and generate RM1,000 per month. I can live with that.

PETALING JAYA: A renewable energy fund will be established to finance the higher rates that Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) will be paying for renewable energy that will be sold into the electricity grid. This is according to information provided to industry players by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry.

The soon-to-be-passed Renewable Energy (RE) Act 2010, which has already been passed by the Dewan Rakyat this week, will enable individuals and companies to sell electricity generated from renewable resources to TNB. The Act will facilitate a feed-in-tariff (FiT) mechanism whereby higher rates will be paid for renewable energy.

It is learnt that under the FiT, TNB will pay between 23 sen and 123 sen per kWh, depending on the type of RE power generated. (The current rate TNB pays traditional power producers is 21 sen per kWh.)

It is also learnt that the fund will be established and administered by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda) to manage the FiT mechanism. The Government would have to subsidise the cost to TNB, either directly via subsidies or via the RM1.5bil Green Technology Fund,” he said, adding that in any case, the implementation of FiT would be neutral to TNB.

Not to be confused with the renewable energy fund being set up by the RE Act, the Green Technology Fund is a RM1.5bil fund that the Government set up last year as a funding scheme to encourage companies, especially in the energy, water and waste management industries, to use green technology.

However, he said, the entry level for solar photovoltaic (PV) could be very high.

“Some RM3.5mil to RM4.5mil investment would be needed to produce 1MW of solar electricity,” Eng said, adding that there were other challenges, such as land, to produce RE.

A normal house needs 4KW while the capital required is about RM60,000. However, with FiT, consumers need to pay only 10%, or RM6,000, while the rest will be borne as a loan from a bank. The monthly income generated from the 4KW will be RM696 and the monthly repayment is RM456 to the bank, thus earning consumers a net cash of RM240 per month,” Ahmad said.

Monday, May 16, 2011

A simple message to all teachers/educators where ever you may be in the world.

"We pray that you shall be blessed abundantly in everything you do. We'll never be able to pay you back for all you've done for us. But I guess, sharing the knowledge we've learnt from you, giving our best shot in striving to achieve yours and our objectives, giving you the respect due to you, would be the least we could do."

I met with Ungku Abdul Rahman (the Director of Power Technologies Sdn Bhd) a couple of days back and he mentioned that SESB will pay you the whole amount of energy produced at home and not the "net" kWH fed-back to their grid. Power Technologies S/B is one of the active turnkey Contractors for implementation of solar power systems in Malaysia. They are based in Shah Alam, Selangor.

What this means is that SESB will still bill you for the amount of energy consumed but at the same time pays you for whatever amount of energy generated by your home Solar System. This, according to him is the net effect of the recently enacted Renewable Energy (RE) Act 2010.

If you read my previous article, you might be pleasantly surprised that what you read in this updated article is a betterment of that information.

For example (previous figures re-used):

If your Solar System produced 200kWh this month and your energy consumption is 150kWH,

Of course you'll still need to service your bank loan, so, this "Income" is not net yet. I mentioned bank loan as you are eligible to take up financing from any of the commercial bank around for setting up of the residential solar system.

The initial capital expenditure looks daunting but taking into account the government incentive, the bank financing, the return of investment, the guaranteed 21 years of FIT, it really is worth looking into.

FIT: feed-in tariff

Dont' you think Malaysia is committed to its pledge to reduce the carbon emission to help mother earth live another day?